I was never really a big superhero movie fan. I enjoyed some of them, but definitely didn't wait to watch them all eagerly like a real fan would. I still haven't watched the early stuff of Ironman, Captain America or Hulk etc. I did enjoy the avenger series, mainly because it was an action movie. I do like fantasy and I guess I was drawn to that fantasy-like or Sci-fi like atmosphere. I mean, with Starwars series on a terrible decline (of similar Mary Sue heroine sort), as a viewer, we're not given much of a choice.
One of the aspects I don't like about superheroes is the 'chosen one' trope. They're innately born or given these magical powers and I've always disliked how people who sought out those powers were evil people. Maybe it's the middle child syndrome in me, or the fact that I've always wanted to just be normal. Like a wall flower almost. In any case, what I like is when characters actually train or work towards their powers. Even though I didn't fully invest in Captain America, that's one thing I liked about the character. He wanted strength for good and trained to get it (well... with the help of evil science as well). My current favorite superhero is probably Rorschach from Watchmen since he's the first one to come to mind when I think about my favorite superhero. Watchmen is one of my favorite superhero movies and Superhero movie is probably my second favorite since it has Leslie Neilson in it and Kick-ass is also good as well. But most of these movies have characters that basically want to be superheroes for some sort of justice in their mind and train to become one. I know it feels I've went on a bit of a tangent from the title, but it's important, since the 'chosen one' trope becomes more and more abundant with recent films such as She-hulk, Eternals or Dr. Strange. I know some of those had a bit of training montage, but in most cases, it spans off into an explanation that they were chosen to be in that role.
Now another point I want to make before listing a few 'selfish' superhero, is just... what makes heroes a hero? For me, I feel like it'd selflessness. The definition of a hero is just simply 'a person who is admired for their courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities.' which isn't really selfless, but personally, heroes are people who would sacrifice themselves to help others. It's why for a lot of children, their fathers or mothers are their heroes. They work hard to provide for their family. We need heroes in our lives because as social creatures, most of us are not equip for self-sustaining lifestyle. We live in a society and crave to be a part of it by socializing. When we fall, we want the mental security that someone out there will look after them and help them out. When 11 Thailand boys were stuck in a cave, it was so heartwarming to know people cared and wanted to save them. It was an international sensation. Even Elon Musk chimed in (even though he was hated for it). A diver died during the extraction process and to me... it really did feel like all those people there were the real heroes. So without this bravery that comes from caring about other human beings, it's hard for me to say someone is a 'hero'. A man can go and fight a bunch of monsters, but if he doesn't care about the people he's saving, then a part of me feels like he's doing it mostly for himself. Let's face it, most of us have played video games and fighting monster is 'fun' and in video games at least, we don't do it to save the NPCs, we do it for the thrill of the fight.
Oh and I just wanted to point out, it's also one of the reasons why I 'used to' like DC superheroes more than Marvel. Original big players in the DC superhero league were Batman, Superman, Wonder woman, Aquaman and the Flash etc. I don't know much about Aquaman and Flash, but Batman, Superman and wonder woman really seemed like characters that thought about humanity. Batman focused more on his own city, Gotham and what was needed within it. Movies like, 'The Dark Knight' trilogy really explored into the whole role Batman played in the city and how he built his character. Wonder woman and Superman as well, being almost indestructible and not being 'human' they had defining moments where they wanted to save humanity even with their flaws, because they loved them. I can see why... Most of them came post war era.
You know what, after writing all that stuff, I can't even be bothered to write about modern superheroes hahaha I just... can't be bothered.
So I'll just list a few I was gonna write about and just bugger off.
Iron man (obviously haha)
Thor
She-hulk
Antman
Captain marvel
Moon knight (although it was fun watching how he over comes his struggles)
Then I wanted to go into why they're written like that, it's because the new generation has been living without severe poverty and hardship, so they were always told they were special and that they need to love themselves etc... ah, you get what I mean.
Anyway, I just can't be bothered. Gonna go back to work
